CARLSBAD – Mayor Bud Lewis leads all elected officials in the city in political cash on hand as he prepares to run for a record sixth term as the city's leader.

Lewis reported a campaign treasury of $27,318 in his year-end financial disclosure statement, which was due Tuesday.

Of the other two council members who face re-election this year, Matt Hall reported having $17,461 on hand for his campaign and Mark Packard reported a cash balance of $4,084.

Packard was the only one of the three who reported raising no money last year, while Lewis raised $14,105 and Hall $8,250.

Packard, 50, is completing his first term on the Carlsbad council, which sees little turnover.

Hall, 58, has been on the council since 1994 and will be running for his fourth term.

Lewis, 74, is the county's longest-serving mayor. He was first elected to the council in 1970 and became mayor in 1986.

He said this week that he plans to run for another term and, if he is re-elected, is in line to become chairman of the San Diego Water Authority board in 2008. He serves on the boards of the County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District.

Lewis reported a reimbursement of $1,000 from former U.S. Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who admitted last year to taking $2.4 million in bribes and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges in connection with his efforts to steer government work to defense contractors.

Lewis said he contributes to officials who are in a position to help Carlsbad, and when Cunningham resigned from Congress he decided to donate the money to another official.

Councilwoman Ann Kulchin reported a cash balance of $22,306 in her political bank account, and Councilwoman Norine Sigafoose had $18,928.

Sigafoose reported a campaign debt of $21,000, a carry-over from her 2004 campaign. She said most of the cash on hand will be used to retire that debt, which she said consists of a loan she made to her campaign.

Sigafoose spent about $52,000 to win her council seat as a first-time candidate in 2004. Kulchin, who has been on the council since 1980, spent about $22,000.

Kulchin and Sigafoose do not face re-election until 2008.

A new political force on the city's scene is Concerned Citizens of Carlsbad, an activist group that wants to put an initiative on the ballot to preserve agricultural land along Cannon Road just east of Interstate 5.

That group reported raising $6,000 for the campaign, $3,350 of which was paid to Peter Lind, the lawyer who wrote the initiative and submitted it to the city.

Its largest single contributor was Sam Lyakhovetsky, who donated $5,000.

Asked why he contributed such a large amount, Lyakhovetsky said, “I just want to save the flower fields.”

Concerned Citizens of Carlsbad plans to mount a petition drive to qualify its initiative for the November ballot. It will need to gather 5,732 valid signatures by early July.